


Bottles & Bones

by Alithea



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-29
Updated: 2010-01-29
Packaged: 2017-10-06 19:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alithea/pseuds/Alithea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post EW. Echo response to The Escapist by <a href="http://slightlyjillian.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://slightlyjillian.livejournal.com/"><b>slightlyjillian</b></a>. Sally's point of view on everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bottles & Bones

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Escapist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/55544) by [slightlyjillian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlyjillian/pseuds/slightlyjillian). 



> This is sort of an echo response to a fic [](http://slightlyjillian.livejournal.com/profile)[**slightlyjillian**](http://slightlyjillian.livejournal.com/) wrote. It's not quite finished and then again it sort of is. I'm posting it because it feels weird for me to just keep it hidden away.

Sally couldn't remember how she had been convinced to tag along, but didn't quite care as she was tugged every which way by her companions at the small carnival. She was holding a bottle of some cheap beer that had been thrust in her hand because, "that's what you do at a carnival. Drink and go on rides."

She watched as the younger members of the group chattered wildly about what they should do next and then felt the tug on her sleeve. She turned around and a cowboy hat was plopped on her head. She eyed the young man skeptically and he grinned.

"Matches the braids," he said with an almost reluctant smile.

She flicked the brim of the hat with her fingers and winked at him before feeling compelled to glance over her shoulder. The blonde behind her had arched a quizzical eyebrow that was shortly accompanied by a grin. It was a grin that said everything, and Sally was very unsure about how she felt about the attention she was receiving from the two.

The three made way to turn down and join the rest of the group as a sudden sight stopped her two companions still. She looked in the direction they were glancing and nodded her head while making an unheard noise of irritation. Just ahead a woman and her daughter surveyed a ride, and it would have been a lovely sight except that it seemed so misplaced from how the woman usually presented herself. There was a smile there on the woman's face, but it was a mask that Sally saw through.

She tugged on the sleeves of her companions. "Fun tonight, heartache later," Sally said and then added, "at least that's what Duo had said."

Her two companions looked over at her. She winked. She never knew what they took it to mean, but they immediately turned and followed her. Dorothy and Nichol never knew how to ignore Une, except maybe in each other and perhaps the cool and soft smile of Sally Po.

Soon thereafter, perhaps it was a year, Dorothy and Nichol really and truly fell in love with each other, then they were married. And then in an instant they were gone, murdered by madmen and dissidents who didn't have a reason.

Somewhere the truth is found  
Between drinks   
In the bottles and bones  
Under the skin and retched into the streets  
Ragged with wanting without any warning  
And you'll swear it isn't fair  
But I've always known  
It was in those bottles  
It was under your bones

It felt like ages from the carnival when Sally ended up on a deserted boardwalk and then a ragged bar. She had a bottle of mediocre beer and sat in silent conversation with Lady Une who was already somewhere near her fifth. She let the lady drink. She listened with patience when the woman did speak, and as she helped the lady to the back of her motorbike, reminded herself that she couldn't be everyone's friend. She even reminded Une as the lady stumbled away from her and retched out into the streets.

Still a doctor to the last Sally pressed her hand to Une's forehead. The woman would be fine in the morning. She'd be mildly dehydrated, and perhaps regretful.

Sally dropped the lady off at some ramshackle inn not knowing where else to go. She laid Une on a bed and went off to retrieve a small care package to leave by the bed. When she returned Une was sitting up and blurry eyed, still half lost in an alcohol induced haze. Sally set down the bottle of water and package of aspirin on the nightstand and the lady merely shook her head, disapproving, not wanting the attention.

"I already said it," Sally said as she turned out the light and walked to the door. "You'll never be free till you learn to start walking among the living."

If you take me by the hand   
I just might want to give in  
But if you run away  
I'm not going to chase you down  
That road is too long traveled  
And I'm tired of being unraveled  
By the broken pieces of hearts I'm given

There was an infamous phone call a few months after that evening. Sally knew and didn't know all that it entailed. She remembered hearing Duo talk about it in the office, Wufei quite purposefully not talk about it, and then all the little things that fell into place after that. It was a cascade, almost too much to take in at once. And then, for once, Une actually came in for her physical.

Sally placed the stethoscope over the woman's heart and listened. After a few moments of the usual requests to breathe she removed the earpieces and sat down on a small stool and rolled it over to a table where Une's chart was spread open. She looked over the notes and flipped through a few pages.

"How are you feeling about the medication?" She didn't look up from the chart.

"I wasn't aware you were a psychiatrist as well?" Une replied.

"Not yet." Sally looked up from the chart and looked over at the lady. She flipped the chart shut and then stood up. "I don't see any problems, but seriously, as a doctor, I'm asking you how you feel about the medication."

"I feel it's still working."

"Fine." She sighed, shaking her head. "Well then, you check out and I'll see you next time, maybe."

Sally stepped back towards the small table to gather up her things.

"You never said, 'I told you so.'" Une stated and started to button up her shirt.

Sally glanced over her shoulder and then took a step back to where Une was sitting. She looked into the woman's eyes and then shook her head. The lady blinked and realized she had made a mistake.

Sally nodded and opened the door. As she stepped out she said, "There, now I told you so."


End file.
